Victory Motorcycles is returning to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb after a failed attempt last year with, not one, but two motorcycles.
Last year, I witnessed the company’s attempt at the world’s most famous hillclimb in Colorado with their Project 156 prototype bike (named after the 156 turns of the race) made in conjunction with Roland Sands.
The engine is now used in the Victory Octane.
2016 Victory OctaneThe rider was on target for a hillclimb podium last year, but crashed and failed to finish.
This year Victory will return with 2014 Pikes Peak Heavyweight Champion Jeremy Toye riding the bike.
The company will also compete in the electric bike section with their Empulse RR electric prototype which was raced in last year’s TT Zero at the Isle of Man.
MBW rides the Victory Empulse TT electric motorcycleThe company has since released the Empulse in the US as a production bike, but not yet in Australia.
Both should be highly competitive, but the electric bike will be a real eye-opener as it will not be affected by the increase in altitude to 4300m.
Last year, I rode a Victory Cross Country to the summit and when I arrived at the top I could hardly get off the bike. My arms and legs felt like lead, my eyes were bulging and my head hurt from altitude sickness.
MBW ticks off another on his bucket list at Pikes PeakYou can only imagine how difficult it is for the riders and the internal combustion engines. However, the electric vehicles which climbed the mountain were unaffected.
Victory Motorcycles Director of Marketing Alex Hultgren says Pikes Peak is “arguably the most challenging race in America, it’s exactly where we need to be.”
The 100th anniversary and 94th running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 26, 2016, has a strong field of about 100 competitors.